Airtel Trophy Highlights and Cricinfo

India sweeps series 5-0

India's domination of England in the ODI series was complete at the Eden Gardens here on Tuesday. By wrapping up the final match with a 95-run victory, the home team gave a perfect Deepavali present to the country.

Put in, India scored a challenging 271 for eight and stopped England at 176 in 37 overs. If skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni thrilled everyone with his batting pyrotechnics, the Indian spinners made sure the English was brought down to earth.

Good start

For a while it looked as if England would, after all, stop the Indian team's march towards complete annihilation when its opening pair of Alastair Cook and Craig Kieswetter produced the most telling association of the series. The 129 runs the two added looked the right launching pad in its quest for the lone victory after being in arrears 0-4.

But it was not to be.

Left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja and off-break bowler R. Ashwin, bowling in tandem during the five-over Power Play, completely broke England's back picking up four wickets.

Later Suresh Raina and Manoj Tiwary also joined in stifling the English batsmen after India's new kid on the block, Varun Aaron, gave the breakthrough shattering the wicket of England captain Cook. Then the floodgates opened.

Ian Bell, searching for form and runs, was the next to go having no clue to the one that drifted away and Jonathan Trott guided a Jadeja turner to Virat Kohli in the slips. Jonathan Bairstow was taken at backward point by Ajinkya Rahane off Jadeja and Ravi Bopara was bowled.

A crowd of about 25,000, the lowest turnout for any India match at this historic venue, enjoyed every moment of the English discomfiture. Jadeja and Ashwin picked up four and three wickets respectively to complete the rout.

Significantly, England's 10 wickets fell for just 47 runs!

Earlier, India reached 271 for eight thanks mainly to captain Dhoni's unbeaten 75 off 69 balls. Rahane (42), Gautam Gambhir (38) and Raina (38) also contributed to enable India post a challenging total. Significantly, Dhoni has remained unbeaten in this series.

The opening-wicket partnership of 80 runs between Rahane and Gambhir set the tone for the rest of the innings. The visitors came back strongly in the bowling Power Play between the 16th and the 20th overs to completely dominate play by picking up three wickets conceding only 10 runs.

Useful partnerships

Thereafter, two useful partnerships, for the fourth wicket (43 off 52 balls) between Raina and Manoj Tiwary, coming into the playing XI in place of Parthiv Patel, and for the fifth wicket (39 off 57 balls) between Raina and Dhoni gave India the momentum to go past 200.

India enjoyed its best opening start with Gambhir, opening the innings for the first time in this series, and Rahane playing sensibly. The first five overs yielded just 23 runs as the two were circumspect in their approach.

Tim Bresnan and young Steve Finn opened the bowling and found there was some juice in the pitch. The duo went full throttle to generate good pace. The next five overs produced only 18 runs as India ended the first Power Play at 41 for no loss.

The two Indians laboured to score, but managed to get the occasional boundary to the delight of the crowd. The two brought up India's 50 off 66 balls and went on to put on 80 runs. Gambhir was the first to go playing on to Finn for 38 off 46 balls with the aid of four boundaries. Finn bowled an outstanding second spell in which he had two wickets conceding only 10 runs.

In-form Kohli came in and was surprised by Finn's reverse swing, which cut in to hit the off-stump when he shouldered arms. Rahane too left taken brilliantly by Kieswetter off Bresnan when the batsman played a loose shot outside the off-stump.

India slumped to 80 for three in the space of 10 balls.

Then came the two partnership and finally Dhoni unleashed himself in the end overs. India added 60 runs in the final five overs with Dhoni contributing the maximum.

Scoreboard

India: A. Rahane c Kieswetter b Bresnan 42 (61b, 6x4), G. Gambhir b Finn 38 (46b, 4x4), V. Kohli b Finn 0 (5b), M. Tiwary c Kieswetter b Meaker 24 (30b, 4x4), S. Raina (run out) 38 (46b, 5x4), M.S. Dhoni (not out) 75 (69b, 3x4, 4x6), R. Jadeja c Bell b Samit 21 (21b, 2x4), R. Ashwin c Bairstow b Samit 7 (10b), Praveen c Bairstow b Samit 16 (12b, 1x4, 1x6), Vinay Kumar (not out) 0 (0b); Extras (b-2, w-8) 10; Total (for eight wkts. in 50 overs): 271.

Power Plays: One (1-10) 41/0; Bowling (16-20): 10/3; Batting (36-40): 28/1.

Fall of wickets: 1-80 (Gambhir), 2-80 (Kohli), 3-80 (Rahane), 4-123 (Tiwary), 5-162 (Raina), 6-206 (Jadeja), 7-215 (Ashwin), 8-259 (Praveen).

England bowling: Bresnan 9-0-36-1, Finn 10-2-47-2, Meaker 10-0-65-1, Samit 9-0-57-3, Swann 8-0-45-0, Bopara 4-1-19-0.

England: C. Kieswetter lbw b Jadeja 63 (64b, 9x4, 1x6), A. Cook b Aaron 60 (61b, 8x4), J. Trott c Kohli b Jadeja 5 (10b), I. Bell c Dhoni b Ashwin 2 (6b), R. Bopara b Raina 4 (16b), J. Bairstow c Rahane b Jadeja 2 (7b), S. Patel c Dhoni b Jadeja 18 (33b, 2x4), T. Bresnan c Raina b Tiwary 0 (4b), G. Swann (not out) 10 (11b, 1x4, 1x6) S. Meaker lbw b Ashwin 1 (6b), S. Finn c Dhoni b Ashwin 2 (4b); Extras (b-4, w-5) 9; Total (in 37 overs) 176.

Power plays: One (1-10): 62/0; Bowling (22-26): 10/4; Batting (36-40) 9/3

Fall of wickets: 1-129 (Cook), 2-134 (Kieswetter), 3-137 (Bell), 4-137 (Trott), 5-141 (Bairstow), 6-155 (Bopara), 7-156 (Bresnan), 8-167 (Patel), 9-174 (Meaker).

India bowling: Praveen 5-0-34-0, Vinay Kumar 3-0-21-0, Ashwin 9-0-28-3, Tiwary 5-0-28-1, Jadeja 8-0-33-4, Aaron 3-0-19-1, Raina 4-0-9-1

Man of the Match: R. Jadeja.

Man of the Series: M.S. Dhoni.

Airtel Trophy Highlights

5 Th ODI

4Th ODI

3rd ODI

2nd ODI

1st ODI

Airtel Trophy 5th ODI Cricinfo

India eyes whitewash at Eden Garden

  

The consistent Virat Kohli has proved to be the cornerstone of India's batting.

High on confidence, a dominant India will push for a 5—0 clean sweep when they lock horns with a hapless England in the fifth and final cricket one—dayer at the Eden Gardens here on Tuesday.

A disciplined show in all the departments has been the highlight of India’s 4—0 triumph so far, and Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s men would look to continue their dominant show tomorrow in what has been billed as the ‘payback series’.

“We will try to go for 5—0. If we play good cricket, things will go our way, but again the important thing is to do our best,” Dhoni said last night after India thrashed England by six—wickets to go 4—0 up in the series.

Right from batting to bowling and fielding, India have shown near—perfection, something that unmistakably favours towards a 5—0 whitewash, and the setting would just be ideal for a Diwali eve celebration.

While India shone bright, the Englishmen, on the other hand, have failed to show the right body language throughout the series.

It was in sharp contrast of their show in England where they had vanquished India in the same manner in both Test and one—day cricket.

No doubt there has been the huge advantage of the home condition, but coach Duncan Fletcher, having tasted defeat in England, would definitely be pleased that the youngsters have shown tremendous character in the series so far.

Be it Mumbai batsman Ajinkya Rahane or Jharkhand pacer Varun Aaron, who had a splendid debut last night, the youngsters have shown hunger and equal finesse while the seniors, in absence of several key players of the World Cup winning side, have backed themselves well.

As India have dished out a dominating show so far, England had come close to winning in Mohali posting a challenging target of 299.

But the 21—year—old Rahane, the lone Mumbai face in the Indian line—up, grabbed the opportunity with both hands for a match—winning 91 that earned him the Man of the Match award.

While he set the platform for the tall chase, Gautam Gambhir provided the key support and Dhoni steered the team home to clinch the series after winning the third one—day in Mohali.

Last night in Mumbai, India had another stupendous performance from a rookie Aaron, dubbed as India’s fastest bowler after clocking 150—plus in a domestic match.

It was a perfect debut for the bowler who thrives on sheer pace and bounce as he wiped out the English tail with a splendid 3/24 from 6.1 overs at the Wankhede stadium.

He generated enough bounce, pace and was good with reverse swing, and all his three dismissals came by clean bowling the batsmen.

Aaron was not short on pace either as he consistently touched 140kph, providing the sting to the new-look Indian pace attack in the absence of Zaheer Khan.

Dhoni was all praise for the young bowler.

“He bowled a bit quicker than some of the other Indians.

He was consistently around the 140 mark. It’s good to see some of the younger fast bowlers coming in and putting in a bit of effort and bowling at more than 135 kms per hour,” Dhoni said.

Pace spearhead Praveen Kumar and R Vinay Kumar have done the task well as India have not looked short of ammunition in the pace line—up, as the duo have stuck to discipline without doing anything extravagant.

But it’s Delhi youngster Virat Kohli who has evolved into a key Indian batsman with consistent performances.

With scores of 37, 112 not out, 35, 86 not out in India’s four back to back wins, Kohli has stamped his class in this series.

Groomed under the likes of his statemate Virender Sehwag and masterclass Sachin Tendulkar, Kohli has showed the potential to go to the top tier after making his one—day debut three years ago.

From 68 ODIs, Kohli who will turn 23 next month, averages 46.73 with seven centuries as he completed 1,000 runs in this calendar year during his knock of 112 not out in Delhi.

With statemate Gambhir and Suresh Raina, the Delhi youngster form the core of Indian batting line—up that misses the class of Tendulkar and Sehwag in the ongoing series.

In the absence of offspinner Harbhajan Singh, the spin pair of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja have done their task impeccably. The duo have shared 14 wickets from four matches, which has been an ingredient of India’s success against the spin—weary Englishmen.

Fielding too has been impeccable by the Indians and Dhoni was all praise for the young side.

Incidentally, the Eden will host India for the first time after the memorable win against Sri Lanka in 2009 Christmas eve. The refurbished Eden Gardens could not host the scheduled India—England World Cup fixture after being deemed as unprepared.

The grand stadium hosted other teams in the World Cup, so it would be another fitting occasion for the 64,000 capacity Eden to offer the home side a chance to clinch the series in style on Diwali eve.

Bengal batsman Manoj Tiwary has been used as a substitute so far in the series, and it remains to be seen if the Indian thinktank gives him a chance on his home ground.

Opener Parthiv Patel, who is yet to click with the bat, may give the only available option for Dhoni to ponder upon.

England, meanwhile, have been without their pace duo of James Anderson and Stuart Broad, and it has left them with a weakened pace attack. The visitors have shown a poor display with the bat as well.

Without any consistency after good starts, Jonathan Trott and Kevin Peitersen have let down England in a big way and left skipper Cook frustrated.

“It’s quite frustrating. We have not performed at the level we had done recently. We can’t fault training, effort or desire or commitment. We are performing anywhere near to what we can do,” said Cook after their six—wicket loss last night.

It’s still a mystery why England is yet to bring in Ian Bell to their batting line—up, and it remains to be seen if he is included in the last match of the ODI series, that will give England a chance to restore some pride before the one—off Twenty20 on October 29.

Teams from:

India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (c & wk), Parthiv Patel, Ajinkya Rahane, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, R Vinay Kumar, Varun Aaron, Praveen Kumar, Manoj Tiwary, S Aravind, Rahul Sharma and Abhuimanyu Mithun.

England: Alastair Cook (c), Craig Kieswetter (wk), Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen, Ravi Bopara, Jonathan Bairstow, Samit Patel, Tim Bresnan, Scott Borthwick, Stuart Meaker, Steven Finn, Ian Bell, Graeme Swann, Graham Onions, Jose Buttler, Alex Hales.

Field Umpires: Billy Bowden (NZC), Sudhir Asnani; Third Umpire: S Ravi; Fourth Umpire: Vineet Kulkarni.

Match Referee: Roshan Mahanama (SLC).

Match starts: 2.30pm.

India Win Again By 6 Wickets

Kohli & Raina power India through to victory

 

After initial nicks and nudges, Suresh Raina went after the English attack to make a 62-ball-80 which put India well on the way to victory

Spinners Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja do well as England is restricted to 220

Virat Kohli (86 not out, 99 balls, 11x4) and Suresh Raina (80, 62 balls, 12x4) powered India to a comfortable victory despite some early jolts in the fourth match of the ODI series here on Sunday.

With India down at 46 for three, England's hopes for a consolation win here were dashed by the 131-run stand for the fourth wicket.

Eventually, India coasted home, making 223 for four in 40.1 overs.

England's defence of its modest score of 220 started off well enough as Steven Finn stunned Parthiv Patel and in-form Gautam Gambhir in a five-over spell — the opener paying for missing the line and the latter playing on.

Ajinkya Rahane also walked back after jabbing at a short ball from Stuart Meaker for 'keeper Craig Kieswetter to take an acrobatic catch.

Raina then joined Kohli out in the middle, and the duo went about getting the chase back on track.

Kohli pierced a packed off-side field with fluent drives and Raina opened out after initial nicks and nudges, picking his spot for ferocious aerial shots on the frontfoot. He slogged or scooped anything within range of his flashing blade, punishing Scott Borthwick, Ravi Bopara and later Finn, before gifting his wicket away.

England, by that time, however, was down for the count. Skipper M.S. Dhoni and Kohli completed the formalities without fuss.

Earlier, after opting to take first strike, England was restricted to 220 in 46.1 overs, beaten back by some tight bowling, especially by the spinners and excellent catching.

Spinners R. Ashwin (three for 38) and Ravindra Jadeja (two for 41) were outstanding in containment and accounted for half the visitors' line-up.

With the series won, Dhoni let Varun Aaron have a go at the Englishmen. The Jharkhand quickie and MRF Pace Foundation graduate went for 14 off his first three overs. But, coming back in the 41st over, he rattled the tail-enders, bowling top-scorer Tim Bresnan (45 off 45 balls) and also scalping Borthwick and Meaker, to return three for 24 on his debut.

Ashwin, who was introduced early, took the early punishment from Kieswetter — he was hit for three boundaries — in his stride to trap Alastair Cook in front off the last ball of the same over. In the very next over, Praveen Kumar got the dangerous Kieswetter. But, Jonathan Trott and Kevin Pietersen took England safely past the 100-run mark and looked set for a big partnership when Vinay Kumar broke through by getting rid of Trott with a ball sneaking in off the seam.

The England innings never really recovered after that.

Scoreboard

England: A. Cook lbw b Ashwin 10 (19b, 2x4), C. Kieswetter lbw b Praveen 29 (18b, 4x4, 2x6), J. Trott b Vinay 39 (48b, 5x4), K. Pietersen c sub (Tiwary) b Ashwin 41 (61b, 3x4, 1x6), R. Bopara lbw b Jadeja 8 (19b), J. Bairstow b Jadeja 9 (19b, 1x4), Samit c Kohli b Ashwin 14 (27b), T. Bresnan b Aaron 45 (45b, 6x4), S. Borthwick b Aaron 3 (7b), S. Meaker b Aaron 1 (10b), S. Finn (not out) 1 (4b); Extras (lb-2, b-4, w-14): 20; Total (in 46.1 overs): 220.

Power Plays: One (1-10): 61/2; Bowling (16-20): 24/0; Batting (36-40): 30/1.

Fall of wickets: 1-39 (Cook), 2-39 (Kieswetter), 3-112 (Trott), 4-128 (Pietersen), 5-140 (Bopara), 6-145 (Bairstow), 7-192 (Samit), 8-205 (Borthwick), 9-215 (Meaker).

India bowling: Praveen 7-1-41-1, Vinay 7-1-41-1, Ashwin 10-0-38-3, Jadeja 10-0-41-2, Aaron 6.1-1-24-3, Kohli 4-0-14-0, Raina 2-0-15-0.

India: Parthiv b Finn 8 (20b), A. Rahane c Kieswetter b Meaker 20 (37b, 1x4), G. Gambhir b Finn 1 (6b), V. Kohli (not out) 86 (99b, 11x4), S. Raina b Finn 80 (62b, 12x4), M.S. Dhoni (not out) 15 (18b, 1x4, 1x6); Extras (b-1, lb-6, nb-1, w-5): 13; Total (for four wkts. in 40.1 overs): 223.

Power Plays: One (1-10): 25/2; Bowling (16-20): 26/0; Batting (36-40): 32/0.

Fall of wickets: 1-18 (Parthiv), 2-21 (Gambhir), 3-46 (Rahane), 4-177 (Raina).

England bowling: Bresnan 10-0-40-0, Finn 10-0-45-3, Borthwick 8-0-59-0, Meaker 9-1-45-1, Samit 1.1-0-9-0, Bopara 2-0-18-0.

Highlights

Airtel Trophy ind vs eng 4th ODI Cricinfo

India ready to continue victory march

 

The beleagured England team has to improve its bowling and fielding when it faces India in the fourth ODI at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday

 

The challenge before England is to get the right combination in bowling

The nightmare of facing a searching test of swing and seam is over for the Indian batsmen. The heat is on England bowlers now as they get down to the task of adapting to conditions where the ball does not wobble in the air and batsmen are confident of front foot play.

Down 0-3 going into the fourth one-dayer at the Wankhede Stadium here on Sunday is not a situation captain Alastair Cook and coach Andy Flower have imagined. The painful learning experience continues on a slow turner, as curator Sudhir Naik described the wicket for Sunday's day-night game.

Devastating blow

India's run chase at Mohali was a devastating blow for the visitors' morale.

Ajinkya Rahane, a rather inexperienced batsman in international cricket, sliced the England bowling up in tandem with opener Parthiv Patel as the mandatory Power Play overs fetched 57 runs for a rousing start.

England was shocked as Gautam Gambhir then stepped up and ripped the bowling apart in a century stand with Rahane, taking calculated risks against the quicks and milking runs with drives into the gaps.

M.S. Dhoni's huge presence and bold strokes messed up England's defence of 298 in 50 overs, making the visitor wonder how much more suffering was in store for them.

India returns to the venue of 2011 World Cup triumph with a different group of players. Yuvraj Singh was the talisman as a finisher in the World Cup, now his absence due to injury is not even felt as a confident Team India chased down targets in the second and third ODIs.

The awkward postures by batsmen against the moving ball in England faded from memory, a bad dream from the past.

Different wickets and a different mindset is the challenge for England now.

The demons of defeat are preying on the visitors' minds when they step out at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday.

The local lad Rahane's poise against pace, even with new balls from either ends as stipulated under revised rules now, is unsettling for rival bowlers on slower tracks.

Tim Bresnan took on the mantle of leading the bowlers' pack in this series but now he has become a hunter being pursued by the Indian batsmen. The challenge before England is to get the right mix in bowling and better fielding display. It is an indicator of a team approaching a sense of helplessness, as overthrows rile the harassed bowlers.

Perplexed captain

Captain Cook is a perplexed man, seeing his batsmen succumb to left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja, off-spinner R. Ashwin, pace bowlers Vinay Kumar and Umesh Yadav.

Yadav's replacement, Abhimanyu Mithun, and young Varun Aaron are waiting on the sidelines for a crack at England. Mithun is fit and fast and Varun quick enough to rattle batsmen. India's second appearance at a new-look Wankhede, the first after the World Cup victory, is a chance for Dhoni to build on a series win with one more forceful performance from a new bunch.

Dhoni, Gambhir, Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina were in the World Cup final squad. The first two are feared and respected, Kohli is ready for more responsibilities and if Raina gets into the mood, England bowlers may have to run for cover.

The teams (from):

India: M.S. Dhoni (capt.), G. Gambhir, A. Rahane, P. Patel, V. Kohli, S. Raina, M. Tiwary, R. Jadeja, Praveen Kumar, R. Vinay Kumar, R. Ashwin, A. Mithun, V. Aaron, S. Arvind and Rahul Sharma.

England: A. Cook (capt.), C. Kieswetter, Ian Bell, J. Trott, K. Pietersen, J. Bairstow, R. Bopara, A. Hales, J. Buttler, S. Borthwick, Samit Patel, G. Swann, T. Bresnan, J. Dernbach, S. Finn, G. Onions and S. Meaker.

Umpires: Billy Bowden and Sudhir Asnani. Third umpire: S. Ravi.

India Lead 3-0,and get Series

Rahane, Gambhir set up the chase for India

 

Watch Highlights

 

 

 

 

Just when it seemed that India had safely tucked the match in its pocket, England almost managed to pick it.

Looking demoralised at the brink of a deflating defeat, England produced its competitive best to run through the middle-order and kept up the pressure until Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja held their nerves to script a thrilling five-wicket triumph for the home team.

The exciting finish could not be visualised when India, chasing 299 to a winning 3-0 lead in the five-match contest, was riding on the shoulders of Ajinkya Rahane and Gautam Gambhir. With the score reading 190 for one in the 34th over, India was well on course.

But the departures of Gambhir, Rahane and Suresh Raina in the space of 37 runs spread over 5.2 overs changed the complexion of the game. When Graeme Swann dismissed the in-form Virat Kohli for 35, India still needed 64 runs from 8.2 overs.

But Dhoni and Jadeja covered the distance in 47 deliveries after bringing down the asking rate to seven runs in the final over. The captain hit two boundaries in succession off Tim Bresnan to finish the job.

Heartbreaking defeat

It was indeed a heartbreaking defeat for England which came up with its best batting performance to reach 298 for four. But given India's batting strength in home conditions, it was important for the England bowlers, too, to get their act together. They did bounce back but slipped eventually.

Though the Dhoni-Jadeja stand put the finishing touches to the run-chase, India owed much more to Rahane and Gambhir for setting up the win with their 111-run partnership off 106 deliveries. If Gambhir was his usual self, Rahane was a revelation. He shared the opening stand of 79 runs with Patel and then played his part with Gambhir to frustrate England.

Timely call

In fact, after failures at Hyderabad and Delhi, it was a phone call from Pravin Amre that brought about a refreshing transformation in Rahane's approach. For someone who was good at karate, plotting comes naturally to this Mumbai batsman. “I told him they (England) were targeting him with the short ball. It was important for him to control his shots and rely on timing and gaps and not on power,” said Amre.

However, it was the ‘nervous 90s' that took its toll on Rahane who failed to read a slower one and offered a low catch to mid off.

Gambhir dominated the bowling without looking flashy and looked set for a century. However, that was not to be.

He fell to a brilliant diving one-handed catch by Kevin Pietersen.

Kohli, lucky to be dropped at four, could not make the most of the Craig Kieswetter's generosity after Raina failed to get going.

Solid innings

The English innings was built around Trott's rock-solid innings.

Trott played his role to perfection even as Kieswetter, Pietersen, Ravi Bopara and Samit Patel took turns to step up the run-rate from the other end after another cheap dismissal of skipper Alastair Cook.

Trott missed a well-deserved century by two runs but his 15th ODI half- century was indeed a very special one.

Currently the top run-getter in ODIs this year, Trott provided the much-needed assurance to his teammates in the dressing room.

Unlike in Delhi, where England allowed 173 dot balls, the number was down to 127 here.

Trott, was lucky to escape being run-out when on 32 with Kohli failing to strike the stumps from close.

Playing with authority

Pietersen once again missed a big one. Most of his nine boundaries during the 61-ball innings were struck with authority.

It was unfinished stand of 103 between Trott and a confident Patel that really helped England inch close to 300.

Patel's maiden unbeaten 70 off just 43 deliveries provided the impetus. But on this day, an Indian victory was delayed, but not denied.

Scoreboard

England: A. Cook lbw b Vinay 3 (10b), C. Kieswetter b Kohli 36 (38b, 3x4, 2x6), J. Trott (not out) 98 (116b, 8x4), K. Pietersen lbw b Jadeja 64 (61b, 9x4), R. Bopara b Praveen 24 (32b, 3x4), Samit (not out) 70 (43b, 7x4, 2x6); Extras (lb-1, w-2): 3; Total (for four wkts. in 50 overs): 298.

Power Plays: One (1-10): 40/1; Bowling (16-20): 35/0; Batting (36-40): 30/1.

Fall of wickets: 1-8 (Cook), 2-53 (Kieswetter), 3-154 (Pietersen), 4-195 (Bopara).

India bowling: Praveen 10-0-56-1, Vinay 9-1-64-1, Kohli 3-0-20-1, Yadav 10-0-71-0, Ashwin 10-0-45-0, Jadeja 8-0-41-1.

India: Parthiv lbw b Bresnan 38 (46b, 3x4), A. Rahane c Cook b Finn 91 (104b, 6x4), G. Gambhir c Pietersen b Finn 58 (60b, 3x4, 1x6), V. Kohli lbw b Swann 35 (30b, 5x4), S. Raina c Pietersen b Bresnan 0 (3b), M.S. Dhoni (not out) 35 (31b, 3x4), R. Jadeja (not out) 26 (24b, 2x4); Extras (lb-8, nb-2, w-7): 17; Total (for five wkts. in 49.2 overs): 300.

Power Plays: One (1-10): 57/0; Bowling (16-20): 31/1; Batting (36-40): 33/2.

Fall of wickets: 1-79 (Parthiv), 2-190 (Gambhir), 3-212 (Rahane), 4-217 (Raina), 5-235 (Kohli).

England bowling: Finn 10-0-44-2, Bresnan 7.2-0-62-2, Dernbach 10-0-69-0, Samit 10-0-50-0, Swann 10-0-59-1, Bopara 2-0-8-

India Target: 299 runs in 50 overs, Now India need 152 runs in 143 balls, Req. RR 6.36

Trott, Pietersen take England to 298

Jonathan Trott scored a majestic unbeaten 98 and stitched two crucial partnerships with Kevin Pietersen and Samit Patel to guide England to a challenging 298 for four against India in the third cricket one—dayer here on Thursday.

Trott anchored the England innings during his 116—ball unconquered knock, and together with Pietersen (64) and Patel (70 not out) added 101 and unbeaten 103 runs, respectively.

Trott crafted his innings beautifully, playing cautiously initially when Pietersen was going great guns but opened up later on in Patel’s company.

Trott and Patel took the task to the opposition and sent the Indian bowlers on a leather hunt to pile up a huge 91 runs in the last 10 overs.

Patel was the more aggressive of the two as he did not spare a single Indian bowler en route to his quickfire half—century that came off just 43 balls, studded with seven boundaries and two huge hits over the fence.

All the Indian bowlers bled runs today with left—arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja being the most economical among the wicket—takers, with figures of one for 41 from his eight overs.

England, however, did not have the best of starts after electing to bat as they lost captain Alastair Cook early in the fourth over with the scoreboard reading eight.

Cook was dismissed lbw to a R Viany Kumar delivery that jabbed in after pitching.

Handed a difficult lifeline by Praveen Kumar off his own bowling in the ninth over, Craig Kieswetter finally broke the shackles, hitting the pacer over the deep midwicket fence to bring up England’s first six of the innings.

Kieswetter meted out the same treat to Vinay Kumar in the next over, but this time with a slash over the third man boundary.

Virat Kohli, who was bought into the attack in the 11th over replacing Praveen, broke the 53—run second wicket partnership, dismissing the dangerous Kieswetter, who played on a full delivery onto the stumps.

But then came in Pietersen, who gave momentum to the England innings, and with Trott put up a century stand.

After the initial calm period, Pietersen and Trott milked the Indian bowlers perfectly with ones and twos with boundaries in between to lay the platform for the visitors.

Pietersen was at his fluent best and struck Jadeja for two boundaries in the 25th over to rush to his half—century in just 48 balls.

Since his arrival at the crease, Pietersen was in a murderous mood and did not even get bogged down by Umesh Yadav’s pace, clobbering the pacer for back—to—back fours in the 27th over.

But soon after bringing up the 100—run partnership for the third wicket in just 98 balls, the dangerous—looking Pietersen departed one run later, lbw to Jadeja after scoring a fluent 64 off 61 balls, during which he hit nine boundaries.

Dhoni’s decision to bring Jadeja in place of R Ashwin from the other end bore fruit as he scalped the vital wicket of Pietersen with the first delivery, a decision which did not impress the right—handed batsman at all.

Dhoni’s bowling changes turned out to be masterstroke today as his decision to replace Vinay Kumar with Praveen in the 39th over yielded yet another wicket for India.

Praveen uprooted Ravi Bopara’s (24 off 32) middle stump with a swinging yorker, which the batsman failed to dig out and ended up playing on.

Bopara hit three fours during his stay and added 41 runs with Trott for the fourth wicket that came off 54 balls.

But then a set Trott and new man in Patel joined hands and used their long handle to great effect to take England near the 300—run mark.

Scores:

England:

Alastair Cook lbw b Vinay 3

Craig Kieswetter b Kohli 36

Jonathan Trott not out 98

Kevin Pietersen lbw b Jadeja 64

Ravi Bopara b Praveen 24

Samit Patel not out 70

Extras: (LB—1, W—2) 3

Total: (For 4 wkts in 50 overs) 298

Fall of wickets: 1/8 2/53 3/154 4/195

Bowling: Praveen 10—0—56—1, Vinay 9—1—64—1, Kohli 3—0—20—1, Yadav 10—0—71—0, Ashwin 10—0—45—0, Jadeja 8—0—41—1.

Airtel Trophy 3rd ODI Ind vs Eng Cricinfo

India will look to wrap up the series

Alastair Cook needs to look for a new recipe to make his teammates hungry for victory once again. He knows only too well that the Indians are once again ready to feast on friendly offerings like they did on way to massive victories at Hyderabad and New Delhi.

The England captain did express “concern” after India doubled its lead in the five-match series on Monday night.

Still, it was clear that in spite of the magnitude of thesedefeats, Cook was not going to be any less positive ahead of the crucial clash here on Thursday.

Indeed, it will be hard to claw back from two losses, but England has reason to be optimistic. After all, earlier this summer, England bounced back from 1-2 at home to beat Sri Lanka 3-2.

At present, England is looking to stay afloat in the series. Cook believes the team has the batsmen to make up for the inadequacies in the bowling department.

The team is also clearly missing the injured duo of Stuart Broad and Eoin Morgan, apart from James Anderson who has been rested.

Given the successive batting failures, England can well be expected to bring in the tested and trusted Ian Bell.

Psychologically, it will not be easy for the Englishmen to cope with the defeats.

The England captain mentioned that his batsmen were learning from the way Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir batted the other night.

At the same time, the English camp believes that the difference between the strengths of the two sides is much less than what the results so far suggest.

Despite having been outplayed in every department of the game, England sees a chance of a turnabout here.

The fresh and firm pitch at the PCA Stadium sports a ‘green' look. The fast, lush-green outfield, is surely the best maintained in the country. The evening breeze should assist swing and seam.

Dew factor

Dew is a factor that the team batting second will have to deal with though curator Daljit Singh was certain it would not make a decisive difference.

Kevin Pietersen, who scored 144 on this pitch three years ago in a Test, is unquestionably the biggest threat India faces.

Pietersen is due for a big score and M.S. Dhoni and his men would hope that it does not come over the next week.

In the last match, Pietersen took his time to settle down but fell before he could assume the role of destroyer.

Similarly, Jonathan Trott, Ravi Bopara, Samit Patel, if retained, and Jonathan Bairstow will be keen to make amends for failing to build on the starts they got.

Craig Kieswetter is yet to live up to the reputation of a big-hitter in the opening slot.

Cook, of course, has troubled India often. How the English fast bowlers bowl on this pitch to the upbeat Indians may well impact the result.

Unlike Cook, Dhoni does not have to do anything different or differently.

The side has managed to put runs on the board as well as chased down a target with plenty to spare. The spinners did the job in the first match and medium pacers in the second.

The Indian captain needs no reminding the fact that the job is far from over.

Any sign of complacency will have to be dealt with quickly and firmly. Dhoni will be expecting the openers — Parthiv Patel and Ajinkya Rahane — to fire.

The bowling, in spite of two good days at work, lacks muscle.

The combination involving Praveen Kumar, Vinay Kumar, Umesh Yadav, R. Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja could find it really tough to contain the rival top-order should a couple of them get going.

Overall, England will try to make things happen in order to save the series.

India, on the other hand, can expect the first serious challenge of the week.

The teams (from):

India: M.S. Dhoni (captain), G. Gambhir, A. Rahane, P. Patel, V. Kohli, S. Raina, M. Tiwary, R. Jadeja, Praveen Kumar, R. Vinay Kumar, R. Ashwin, Umesh Yadav, V. Aaron, S. Arvind and Rahul Sharma.

England: A. Cook (captain), C. Kieswetter, Ian Bell, J. Trott, K. Pietersen, J. Bairstow, R. Bopara, A. Hales, J. Buttler, S. Borthwick, Samit Patel, G. Swann, T. Bresnan, J. Dernbach, S. Finn, C. Woakes and S. Meaker.

Umpires: Billy Bowden and Sudhir Asnani; Third umpire: Shavir Tarapore.Match referee: Roshan Mahanama.

Airtel Trophy Launching in Hyderabad

ODI series trophy unveiled

M.S. Dhoni and Alistair Cook unveil the ODI series cup in Hyderabad on Wednesday. Photo: P.V. Sivakumar

The two captains – Mahendra Singh Dhoni of India and Alastair Cook of England – unveiled the Airtel Trophy for the five-match one-day series commencing here on October 14.

Dhoni and Cook held aloft the trophy together in the presence of Sharlin Thayil, CEO, AP, Bharti Airtel Ltd.

The two captains did not speak anything at the function which was delayed by more than 75 minutes.

The Trophy, designed by Frazer and Haws, is made of silver with 24 karat gold plating.

It may be recalled that Airtel had been given the sponsorship rights by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for all international matches to be played in India till 2013. The Indian cricket team, minus Gautam Gambhir, had a three-hour long training schedule at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium on Wednesday. The England team which played a warm-up game against Hyderabad on Tuesday, preferred to take a break.